Old Faces
by Deluded Dreamer
Summary: Post-finale. Rory Gilmore is back from the campaign trail after only a few weeks. Stars Hollow is baffled and the Gilmores are skillfully dodging their questions. Can old faces get them talking?
1. Prologue

**A/N: **This is my first Gilmore Girls fan fiction, after months of debating I finally decided to join this massive fandom. I am going to post a few chapters and if no one really likes it I'll stop updating. Anyway, I hope you like it.

**Old Faces**

Rory Gilmore sat alone in the dark. Dust motes swirled aimlessly in the partial emptiness her room had become. Her suitcase remained unopened on the floor of the living room in front of the ancient bowl of nuts that had remained there for too many years to count. She didn't want to unpack, didn't want to see the documents hidden beneath the unused fanny pack that Jackson had lent her. Her plane had landed a few hours ago in Hartford and Rory had driven through Stars Hollow with the cover of darkness as her shield from curious townspeople. They would wonder why she was back after only a few short weeks on the campaign trail. She couldn't tell them why she had returned. Ms. Patty and Babette especially. If they found out what those papers announced the entire East Coast would know within an hour.

The front door opened and Rory found herself looking at the clock next to the bed she sat on. It was two in the morning. Where was her mother coming from? There was the scampering of paws on the wood floor as Paul Anka came out from under the coffee table. Apparently daughters who came home in the middle of the night scared him. Not even some broccoli had gotten him to come out. _That was one weird dog. _Lorelai kicked off her high heels muttering about it being too early in the morning and how much she hated weddings. Remaining on her bed Rory allowed her thoughts to wonder why her mother had not screamed out her name, had she not seen the car?

_Right, parked in the garage for the first time _ever_. _Even though Lorelai had made it into her own special alone space she had nothing in there. Luke's boat had been moved to the marina awhile ago. Lorelai continued her muttering and tripping blindly through the living room. Rory counted it out in her head. Her mother would see the suitcase in _3...2...1..._

"Rory?" There was no clever pop culture reference to accompany this call. _Must be too tired _Rory thought. She didn't answer, Lorelai would find her.

"Rory?" Her voice was coming from the doorway. Rory could feel her blue eyed gaze, so like her own, boring into her. Partially afraid and longing for the reunion she looked up.

"Hi Mom." She was there suddenly, arms comfortably warm, stroking her hair. She allowed herself to cry, too tired of keeping it bottled up, allowing herself to actually feel towards the issue._ What was she going to do?_

"What's wrong? Why are you back so soon?" Rory drew back from her Lorelai and took a deep breath, the sound hitching in her throat.

"I have to tell you something."

She trailed her daughter into the living room, flipping on the lights as she went. Her previous exhaustion and frustration at weddings had been replaced by a burning curiosity, the need to know what was happening. Rory bent down and flipped open her suitcase. She pawed through it, purposefully digging at the bottom. There was the crinkling of paper and a flash of neon green that Lorelai recognized as Jacksons fanny pack.

"You took that thing and left behind your "Worlds Greatest Reporter" cap? I feel hurt." There was no smile of mirth on Rory's face as she offered the folded page to Lorelai.

That flimsy sheet of paper seemed to weigh like iron, the way Lorelai's phone felt when she was calling her mother. Taking it from her visibly upset daughters hands the reigning Lorelai glanced at it. Some sort of doctors notice…

"Are you sick?" Panic colouring Lorelai's tone.

"Keep reading mom." Rory had her back turned now, looking at the side by side photos on the mantel piece in the living room. One was of her mother standing outside the cold looking Gilmore home, the younger version of Lorelai looked miserable in her fur hat. The one next to it was of herself in her pumpkin costume, smiling as though her life was going to play out perfectly. _Ha_.Rory Gilmore was learning how to live at the moment, the one lesson she could not master or get an A on.

"Oh." Her mother had obviously found the diagnosis, the sound breaking Rory out of her reverie.

"What am I going to do?" The voice was that of a lost child asking a stranger for help. But this was no stranger this was her mother. She of all people would know how to help pull her daughter out of her spiral of doubt.

"You'll do what you've always done. You work through it." Her voice was so sure, there was no hesitation of Rory's ability to do this. Sometimes she hated that, everyone always so positive about what she could do. It was stressful at times to know that success was expected naturally from her. But she had her share of failures because unlike the popular belief Rory Gilmore was not perfect. Rounding the coffee table Rory collapsed on the couch next to her mother. She ignored the pain at sitting on the cloth covered wooden box they called a couch and quietly whispered her story, catching her mother up on the details she had failed to mention in their daily phone calls.

When the tale was done Lorelai looked thoughtful before getting up and leaving the room. Rory blinked, of all the reactions she had imagined her mother not speaking was the one she had dismissed as impossible. There was rummaging in the kitchen before Lorelai came back holding a plate. Another impossibility, there was what looked like home made cookies on that platter. _Home made_.

"When did you go domestic?" They weren't _fresh _fresh but they weren't old. The chocolate chips were like heaven after weeks on the road without the budget to afford junk food.

"You think I made these? Check the bottom, they aren't burnt. Courtesy of Babette, instead of tulip bulbs she gave me cookies." Lorelai shivered at the memory of the moldy tulip bulbs her neighbor had given her last time Rory left to take the world by storm. She had lost one of her favorite sweaters that day, the space it had taken up in the closet had remained empty in memoriam until she found the "Lorelai Look" in bulk at a warehouse sale. She hardly remember that sweater now.

"So…" Rory trailed off. She wiped the slight crumbs from her chin, her eyes searching her mothers. Lorelai reached out and patted her daughters shoulder.

"Welcome home, kid. Welcome home."

**A/N: **So, what did you think? Sorry that it's so slow and short in the beginning. If you want me to continue please review!


	2. Chapter One

**A/N: **I am so sorry it took this long to update. I wasn't expecting anyone to want me to continue and then there was exams… But thank you so much to my reviewers! It's nice to know someone is actually is reading this and is enjoying it. Well here we go. Tell me what you think please.

**Chapter One**

Skip the mailman tried not to trip as he made his way up the lawn that never seemed to be mowed. _Did Lorelai even own a lawn mower? _he wondered absently. Knocking on the door he waited, mentally preparing himself for the amount of jokes she would make about his shorts. When Lorelai finally made it to the threshold of her home she looked as though sleep had evaded her. There was a polite thank you and a yawn before she closed the door. Skip stared at the frost glass window for a moment before heading toward Babettes' house. Not _one_ joke, no bit, no reference he didn't understand. Something was definitely not right on planet Gilmore.

"Is he gone?" Rory asked her head peeking out from behind the curtain in the living room to watch as Skip bent over to hit the bell positioned next to Babettes' small doorway.

"He's gone sweets." Lorelai stifled another yawn. "I need coffee." Rory decided to ignore the tone in that voice. The tone that she had grown up with. Lorelai was clearly trying to insinuate she wanted coffee from a place outside the boundaries of the property.

"There's some in the kitchen." Rory left the living room, uncomfortable to be in there. Despite walls between them she somehow felt that Babette would know she was home. And if Babette knew, well then, the town knew. The questions would start, the theories. And maybe, just maybe, they would guess right.

That would lead to disaster.

Lorelai huffed before following her daughter into the kitchen though she made no arguments about coffee, Rory would be coming to Luke's with her soon enough. Rory had stopped in front of the table and seemed to have her eyes fixated on one object. "You didn't."

"Did what?" Lorelai could feel the rant coming. The corners of her lips turning up into a smile. Rory grabbed the object and waved it in the general direction of her mother.

"How on earth did you possibly find a bigger one?" In her daughters hand was a napkin holder, a cow napkin holder. The first one had been a gift from Sookie. The second one had been purchased in the remodel and this one had been given to her by Taylor because it was dented in the bottom and no one wanted it. Though she did have to promise to buy her groceries at Doose's for a month. Taylor never seemed to give anyone anything for free. "This is a sickness." Rory muttered before returning the cow to its proper place next to the salt and pepper shakers. Giving one last mock look of disgust at her mother Rory began rummaging through the cabinets, vaguely she could hear Lorelai grabbing her purse. Though fully presentable Rory had no intention of leaving the house with her mother. She could survive in here for a few months. Contact with the outside world wasn't mandatory. Then she noticed the starkness of the cabinets. The grabbing of the purse and her mothers lack of arguments on going out suddenly seemed to have more meaning.

Lorelai stood patiently by the front door, watching.

"We don't have any food do we?" Defeat was clear in her tone.

"Why would I need food when my boyfriend can cook it for me?" Rory almost slapped herself in the head. Her mother only seemed to have food in the house when she couldn't afford take out or she and Luke were in a fight.

"You're mean." Rory muttered as she slipped on her shoes. Staring at the exit to her sanctuary she couldn't find it within herself to open the door.

"They would have found out you were home soon enough, babe." Lorelai's arms draped around her shoulders and gave them a squeeze.

"How?" Lorelai stared at her.

"You graduated from Yale, this shouldn't be hard." Rory sighed. True, there were plenty of ways for people here to find out that their Rory was back. "It'll be fine. Just think of chocolate chip pancakes."

With a deep breath Rory opened the door. The walk into the main part of town was uneventful, no one passed them. No one saw them- that they knew off. High in a tree overhead Kirk though he was hallucinating. _Rory was back? Why? _Normally he would have climbed down to greet the Gilmore Girls but he didn't know where the Banyan Boys were. _Spat back out of hell the both of them _he thought sullenly. The two town terrors had chased Kirk into the tree as their celebration for school being out. With a sudden inspiration Kirk slid down the tree, ignoring the scarps on his hands from the bark, and made his way to Babettes' house. It would be safe there, the Banyan Boys feared her garden gnomes. When he was ushered in with sympathy it only made sense that he tell her of his viewing of Rory. For Babette it only made sense to contact Patty and tell her the news. The town knew within three minutes.

"Oh you have got to be _kidding_ me." Lorelai muttered. Faces pressed up against glass windows, people stopped on the sidewalk to watch the mother-daughter duo walk by on there way to the Town Square. Cars remained at the stop light long after it turned green. No one approached, or called a "Top of the morning to you". This surprised Rory, she had been expecting a tidal wave of questions that would have made Lanes friend, Kyon, proud. She breathed a sigh of relief when she reached Luke's Diner, the familiar bell sounded as though it could ward off the town, for a little while at least…

"_Luke! _We need coffee, coffee, coffee!" _At least she was at ease _Rory thought. She could hear Luke tinkering around in the kitchen area of the diner, muttering about the stove.

"I'll be out in a minute." He growled. _Ahhh _how she had missed that. The diner looked the same and it was one of the few places she hadn't expected to be different. She remembered that moment all those years ago when her mother had pulled back into town after their road trip to Harvard University. They had both expected things to be different, no matter the little time they had spent away from Stars Hollow. But nothing changed. It never seemed to. A metal clang brought Rory's attention back to the kitchen. "Damn oven." Luke grumbled. Taking a seat at the counter with her mother they heard his continued muttering and curse words at the oven. Lorelai called out suggestions and possible solutions, her knowledge coming from the shiny oven manual she had recently reread. There was a small huff of triumph before Luke finally came out.

"You never cease to amaze me. Hi Rory." Grabbing two mugs he set them in front of the two before his own words caught up with him.

"Hi Luke." It was an amusing image. Luke stood behind the counter clutching a pot of coffee. It hovered teasingly close to the mugs but made no movement towards them. Getting off her stool Rory ignored the spoken rule of no one entering the space behind the counter and hugged him. Like she cared if a bag of flour fell on her head. Not that there was any flour near Rory.

"Luke." Lorelai repeated, her eyes locked on the coffee. Her hand reached out and slowly tried to guide the pot towards her cup. His hand wouldn't move. Muttering under her breath Lorelai crumpled up a napkin into a ball. Her aim was true-shockingly-but had no impact on him. The coffee pot would not fill her mug. Rory moved back around the counter laughing.

"How are you? How long are you back for?" Luke asked as he absently put a plate of doughnuts in front of the Gilmore Girls. Lorelai grumbled that doughnuts usually went well with coffee. Everyone in the diner had been politely ignoring them. Now the townspeople all seemed to stop moving, conversation died away, as a room full of eyes burned into the younger Lorelai's back.

"I'm good. Things with me are good. How are things around here? How's April?" Luke understood the clear topic change and thought it would be better to get the headlines at a later time. Rory could feel her fellow customers sigh in annoyance and return to their meals and speculation.

"Nothing's changed really. Taylor doesn't think we really measure our lawns to the exact height he wants so he's doing random checks. Dumb stuff like that. April's at her science camp and things seem to be going well there. She calls every Sunday afternoon. Things are good." Rory couldn't help but think that the word 'good' had never been used this much in such a short period of time. There was a short silence of reflection. It was quickly broken by Lorelai.

"You know what goes great with breathing? Coffee." Her mug was finally filled. It went on from there. It was surprisingly easy to settle back into her routine. The diner, Luke, her mother, Stars Hollow. It felt as if those brief weeks never happened, a dream you vaguely remember on the verge of consciousness in the morning. The only difference was the way people acted around her. It was like when Dean had broken up with her the final time and she and Jess had gotten together. The name stirred up the past weeks but she pushed it back. Now was not the time to dwell on such things. But when she had made the transition from one boyfriend to the other the entire town had been watching. As they were now. Her solution to that situation? Evasive maneuvering and giving them time to get used to it. And they weren't going to be able to do that with her cooped up inside all the time. Sighing she locked eyes with her mother. Nodding they departed Luke's and headed to the gazebo.

"Why don't you go see Lane and the boys while I hit Doose's? We are going to pull a major movie marathon and for that we need junk food. Any bets as to who's going to fall into a sugar coma first?" Rory gave a half hearted smile.

"What about the inn? When you came home last night you were talking about a wedding party. Michael and Sookie need you there if there's a wedding today…" Her voice cutting off as her mothers had clamped down on her mouth.

"The wedding is not for a few more days. I can take a break. Michael can handle things. Both of them will understand if I play hooky today. Do you want anything else while I'm at Doose's?"

"Apples." Rory replied absently, Lorelai nodded as if it were a given.

"I'll be home in a bit. Take your time at Lane's, it will give me an opportunity to get our schedule set up." And then she was gone talking aloud of Casablanca and Willy Wonka. Rory smiled to herself, despite the reason for her return it was good to be back.

Lorelai picked up a basket by the door of the market and got an approving look from Taylor that she was holding up her end of the deal about the napkin holder. Wandering the aisles she threw in marshmallows and chocolate sauce. Licorice and jellybeans piled on top of that. She hardly noticed when her fellow shoppers looked away in disgust, probably wondering how she could eat all that with only her daughter for assistance. Remembering Rory's specific request she tossed in a bag of Granny Smiths unaware of Babettes eyes on her. After calling Patty and sneaking Kirk back home without the Banyan Boys finding him she had gone grocery shopping. Feeling that she needed to do something to get her mind off of Rory. And who should come in but the subject of her thoughts mother. Babette stared at the apples and felt a particular story flit through her head. When Lorelai had first moved in Babette had come by with a basket of baked goods and an apple (To keep her doll faces healthy). Thanking her for it the young woman had taken it and mused that she hadn't had an apple since she was pregnant.

Pregnant. The word seemed to grow. Was Lorelai pregnant? Was that why Rory was back? She needed to talk to Patty. Hastily paying for her groceries Babette made her way to the dance studio, screeching out Patty's name as she went.

**A/N: **Again I am sorry that it took me so long to update and that this chapter is short too. Anyways please review!


	3. Chapter Two

**A/N: **Again, I'm sorry this is so late. On with the chapter, where my plot finally picks up.

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Gilmore Girls I would be in Europe right now on a vacation. Not preparing to return to school. Blah.

If one were to think that Rory's homecoming spread through town quickly they were clearly mistaken. The rumour created by Babette moved so fast it made it seem that the speed at which Emily Gilmore could fire a maid was slow. It was whispered behind menus in the diner, in the purchasing of magazines at the newsstand and ice cream at Taylor's Olde Fashioned Soda Shoppe. Mothers discussed it as they picked up their children at Miss Patty's School of Dance, their young daughters twirling in front of them in their apple costumes. The only three who were blissfully unaware of this falsehood were the Lorelai's and Luke Danes.

In several hours time when Lorelai discovered what was being said of her she would fervently thank whomever that her boyfriend was a loner. Luke washed tables and took the took orders of food that people could be making at home. He snapped several times at Zack to quit daydreaming about his upcoming tour with Vapour Rub and get back to work. And all around him the rumour mill turned. True, he was offered congratulations but being Luke he assumed it was belated for his reconciliation with Lorelai. His mind was preoccupied. It was his and Lorelai's one month anniversary tonight and he had plans to take her to Sniffey's Tavern.

Rory Gilmore perched on her mother's bed as various articles of clothing were hurled from the closet. Dodging a Bunny Ranch t-shirt Rory bit into one of the apples her mother had purchased for her. Being deprived of fruit for most of her life it was an interesting change.

"Are you sure you don't want me to cancel? I can always stay home with you." Her mother offered for the hundredth time.

"I'm going to Lanes." Rory retorted thinking for a moment about how she was going to get there undetected. Perhaps she could use the alleyway behind Al's Pancake World.

"What about this?" Lorelai asked as she smoothed out a pink sparkly dress she had gotten with Rory a few years ago. _I had been dating Logan then. Logan. _The waves crashed down on her, like the tide against the shore, slowly wearing away at it. She had thought she had known heartbreak when Dean had dumped her, when Jess had…._Don't think about him tonight. No Jess or Logan thoughts. _

_Though technically you're thinking about them now. _She thought to herself. _I just want tonight to be about hanging out with Lane and the boys. Catching up on town life. Not thinking about tomorrow and all the issues that need to be dealt with. Not thinking about secrets and lies. _

"The dress looks great Mom."

"Are you sure it's not too sparkly?"

"We've been here before."

"I recognize that tree," Rolling her eyes Rory stomped down the stairs to throw her apple core into the kitchen. She blindly felt her way through the dark living room. The light bulb had not been replaced yet. "What about the blue flippy skirt with the white t-shirt blouse?" Her mother's voice called down.

"With my dark blue sweater?" Lorelai's completed outfit flashed through Rory's mind.

"Yeah!" The sounds of rattling hangers could be heard echoing down the stairs as well as Lorelai's muttering about matching jewellery. Glancing at the kitchen's clock as she went into her room Rory saw she had to leave in about 5 minutes if she wanted to make it on time. Her suitcase lay open on her bed. Her mothers afternoon of movies had left little time for her to unpack. Shifting through the clothes her fingers grazed against a piece of paper, slightly crumpled, she smoothed it out. Test results. _I thought I put this on the table in the living room. _

Her eyes looked beyond the page to see the sweater her mother was after lying beneath an orange one. Throwing the test results to the ground she grabbed the article of clothing and ran it upstairs. Lorelai was trying to do up the clasp of a necklace precisely the shade of her eyes. Recognizing it as one Luke had given her mother Rory hooked it together.

"Thanks kid." The reigning Lorelai slid her arms into the sleeves of the sweater her daughter held out to her. "Have a good time at Lane's. When do you leave?"

"Now. Have a good time. When does Luke get here?" Rory asked as her foot hovered over the steps.

"Ten minutes. What if I put my hair up?"

"Bye Mom." Rory called as she snatched her purse from the shelf in her room. Running out the door she kicked the piece of paper lying on the ground, the test results that declared the towns angel to be pregnant.

*****

The streets were relatively empty at the moment. Behind doors families sat down to dinner and to speak of the day's events. Rory was not sitting at her kitchen table enjoying a home cooked meal, nor was she sitting in the safety of her best friends living room. No, she was climbing over piles of trash in an alleyway near to Lane's home. A cat howled somewhere behind her. Picking up the pace Rory saw the wooden fence that marked the property line of her destination. Filled with triumph she scrambled onto of a dumpster and pulled herself over the fence. This display of athletic skill brought a small smile to the Gilmore's face before she knocked on the back door. As the light pours over Rory Gilmore she feels as though she is a small child again, safe and sheltered from the world. And for tonight she plans to think that it's true.

*****

"Lorelai?" Luke Danes poked his head into his girlfriends house. Miracle of miracles the porch light was on for what must have been the first time in months.

"Upstairs." Luke groaned. That could only mean one thing, she wasn't ready yet.

"If you don't come down soon we're going to be late for the movie. We'll have to speed there. One of us will get the popcorn while the other gets the tickets and we'll arrive at the seats all annoyed." He shouted out his previously used argument.

"Just sit down in the living room and I'll be done in a minute. And of course I'd be annoyed, you forgot to get the Milk Duds." This conversation had been played out many times in the years they had dated. And not once had they been late to the movie oddly enough. Sighing Luke shut the door behind him and was immediately aware of how dark the house was. Feeling his way along the wall he found the light switch and flipped it up. Nothing happened.

"What happened to your light?" He called upstairs. Distantly he could hear Lorelai walking around in her room.

"I took the light bulb from the overhead light and put it into the porch light because you're always complaining about how I never change it."

"But now you have no light in your living room. Why not get a new light bulb instead of robbing Peter to pay Paul?"

"You told me to replace the porch light and I did. Now you're telling me to replace my living room light. But to do that I need to take the light bulb from my porch light. You can't have it both ways!"

"Why not just get a new light bulb?"

"Because that's too easy!" Knowing that there was no possible way to win this Luke tentatively moved into the living room. He knew there was a reading lamp next to the stairs. The only thing between him and that was the entire room. He was familiar with the layout of the room so he didn't believe it would be that difficult. Luke was not counting on the fact that the Gilmore Girls had been having a movie marathon that afternoon. Bowls of sugar filled sweets, chips and popcorn were scattered among pillows and blankets on the floor. Stepping down hard on one such pillow Luke felt it slide out from underneath him. Unprepared for the fall he hit the wood floors he had picked out rush up beneath him. His legs flew up and smashed into the coffee table. He heard a snap. A very distinctive snap. And then there was pain.

"Luke?" Her voice seemed to be coming from right next to him. Her blue eyes were the last thing he saw before darkness dragged him under.

*****

Luke Danes lay on the bed in his apartment grumbling to himself about how the entire thing was completely unnecessary the next morning. Though deep down he knew his protests to be false. He was not fine. The bulky plaster casts that covered both of his broken legs made a wheelchair a mandatory piece of machinery for him to move around. There would be no way that he could get around the diner, even when he could hobble around with the casts, any sudden movement could send him toppling over. Work was out of the question for him until the casts came off. The doctors reported that that would be in a few months.

Luke stubbornly refused to believe that. It had only taken a few weeks for his broken arm in high school to heal. The doctor argued back that he broken one of his legs in two places and that the arm was a different bone then the leg. That shut Luke up.

Lorelai tried to make him look at the entire situation as a really _long _lazy Sunday, where he could sit in bed all day and watch TV or read a book.

Television was not one of Luke's favourite pass times nor was reading. He preferred to be working, somewhere, _anywhere_. Another worry on his mind was that he could not afford to close his place of business for a few months. The bills that were piled on his table would not allow that. Caesar wouldn't be able to handle the place for months either. He had barely survived the pressure of running the diner for two weeks when Luke had gone to Philadelphia with April. Caesar would need someone's assistance. Zack and Lane were out of the question, what with Lane on maternity leave and Zack leaving for his tour. He needed someone who had worked at Luke's for a while. Someone who knew the ropes.

Luke sighed. There was no way around it. Lorelai was going to kill him. Though Patty and Babette would be welcome for the entertainment. Reaching for the phone next to him on the bed Luke dialled the familiar number and rubbed his forehead as it began to ring.

"Hello?" The voice on the other end answered. Luke didn't need to ask if whom he was calling was there. He would have recognized that voice anywhere.

"I need your help."

**A/N: **So there it is. My plot is finally coming along. Sorry again for the long wait but my muse has run off in other pursuits and it is finding little inspiration for this fic. So please, if anyone is out there, leave a review. That might bring my flighty muse back.


	4. Chapter Three

**A/N: **I could say that school refused to give me a break. Which it did. I could say that I had a really bad year. Which I did. I could say that my muse got bored and ran off to other fandoms. Which it did. I could use any of the many feeble excuses that come to mind. But I won't. Yeah, if anyone is still out there I really don't blame you for being mad at me. A year without updates. So… while you plot my untimely demise…on with the chapter! To all of you people who read this please drop a review, I would appreciate any criticism you have so I can improve.

* * *

A cry, the soothing voice of her best friend, the panicked mutterings of Brian as he tried to find Kwan's- not Steve's- pacifier. Because _apparently _the wrong one wasn't appreciated. Rory sat up gingerly, absently patting her hair down, while she tried to gain her bearings. She was on the couch with a worn quilt draped over her. Lane was gently rocking Kwan in her arms while watching Steve in her perphial vision- who was somehow able to sleep through the commotion his twin was causing. That much Rory could see through the open bedroom door at the end of the hall. Brian gave out a victorious chuckle from the kitchen as found the pacifier- in the tube of no name chips- and ran it to Lane. The crying stopped. A sigh of relief was shared between the two as Rory watched her friend place her son beside his brother and hastily tip toe away- with Brian behind her. The door was closed softly before a small victory dance was shared with the once again room mates.

"Hey! You're awake!" Rory smiled slightly as Lane padded into her kitchen, grabbing an empty mug and filling it with warm water. "Want anything?"

"No, thanks. I think I'll just head over to Luke's and see how he's doing." Lorelai had called after Rory had been at Lane's for an hour or so the previous night, just before Zack got back from closing up the diner, notifying her daughter of Luke's less then graceful manoeuvre in their living room. Knowing her mother wouldn't be home for the rest of the evening Rory had taken up Lane's offer of the couch. "Thanks for letting me sleep here. And for last night. I just needed-" Rory paused, searching for the right words. "I just…"

"I get it, Rory. Believe me." Lane leaned against the counter, stirring sugar into her tea. "I get it. If you ever need to just talk you know I'll be here."

"Thank you." Relief. After having been at Lanes for twenty minutes Rory had broken down and told her. _Everything_. It felt good to know that at least two people understood. Knew and were just- there. Brian looked between the two women with a confused expression on his face.

"What are you two talking about?" A thought struck him. "Lorelai?"

"What makes you think we're talking about my mother?" Rory asked distractedly as she hugged her married friend goodbye and grabbed her bag from off of the stool at the counter. She was almost at the door when she stopped, frozen.

"Well, Babette was saying she's pregnant. At least that's what I heard her telling Ms. Patty yesterday." Dread coiled in Rory's stomach. _A day, I've been back for a little over a day and they already know. Well, sort of know. They just got the wrong Gilmore. _

"What?" A nervous laugh escaping her lips, it didn't sound very natural but she wanted to play it off as if it were nothing. "Why would she think my mother's pregnant?" Brian looked like he very much regretted bringing it up.

"I don't know. Forget I ever mentioned it. You know, Lane? I think I'll go grab some groceries."

"Brian, you went last time."

"It's fine. I like going to Doosie's. Maybe I'll stop by Sophie's store too. See if she's got any new music in. I could use something different to practise. Be back later. See you, Rory." With a rushed wave almost as rapid as his speech and a quick swipe for his wallet resting on his bunk bed Brian was gone.

"Rory-" The Gilmore could feel her friends concerned stare boring into her back.

"I've got to find my mom. Thanks again, Lane!" The door clicked shut once more and Lane found herself alone in the living room of her home. A cry shattered the tense silence. The young mother sighed before placing down her tea and moving her tired feet towards the sound of her boys.

* * *

"I told you already. If you count the blueberries you can't have the pancakes." A spatula slapped away at the hands moving over the pancakes, the owner of said hand mouthing the number of berries he passed over.

"But I-" The angry, whining voice made the accent more pronounced. It was a rather amusing sight to see as the two people faced off. A tall, pouting French man and a short, pregnant red head. Bitter rivals.

"No." Sookie St. James-Melville, swatted at her co-workers hands further for good measure. Lorelai sat on a stool watching the encounter, sipping at a cup of coffee in her right hand while in her other she absently twirled a fork.

"Evil woman!" Michel Gerard barked before stomping off to his post at the front desk.

"I told you he would count the blueberries!" Lorelai smirked before snatching the plate of pancakes and triumphantly digging into them with her fork.

"He told me today was Crazy Day and that he could eat whatever he wanted. So I thought I would make him the stupid pancakes he's always asking for and never eats. But does he actually follow the rules of his Day? No. Of course not." The chef continued her ranting as she took out her irritation on the carrots she was dicing for the Dragonfly's lunch time meal. A huff escaped her lips as she patted her swollen stomach once. "Okay. I'm done now. And focusing on _you_." She pointed her knife in the direction of her best friend, who had yet to pause in her devouring of the pancakes. "How's Luke?"

"I have him set up in his apartment, grumbling. He broke both of his legs and one of them in two places. He's not going to be able to work for awhile. And he isn't entirely pleased with his extended vacation."

"Who's going to take over the diner?" The brunette stopped, a forkful of blueberries halfway to her mouth before she returned the fork to the plate, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"I hadn't really thought of it. Caesar?"

"Remember how he was with running the diner for two weeks?" Sookie smiled slightly before her thoughts drifted towards the frozen bananas he had served. Frozen bananas. She would have to have Jackson add that to the list of foods she was craving.

"Right. Um, Zack?"

"He leaves for his tour in a few days." That was all the blonde seemed to be able to talk about lately.

"Oh. Well. I don't kno-" The fast talking woman stopped suddenly.

"Lorelai?" Sookie stopped in her mad chopping of the carrots to stare at her best friend.

"He would too."

"Who would do what, sweetie?"

"Think Sookie. Who else knows the diner well enough to work there." A list of all the people the chef had ever seen work behind the counter of Luke's flashed through her mind. Well, she was obviously out of the question. And that had only been because the Inn had burned down. Lorelai and Rory had manned it temporarily. But they both worked now. Well, Lorelai did. And Sookie knew that Rory would want to be out of the spotlight for as long as possible due to her unexpected return to town. And then there was…

"Oh."

"I'll be back in a bit." The reigning Lorelai was halfway out the door, and in her haste she left her cell phone charging on her desk in the office, unaware of the multiple phone calls she was receiving from her distressed daughter and congratulatory townsfolk.

* * *

"Mom? Are you there? Come on, mom. Pick up. Not there? Agh. Call me. Immediately. I'm going into Luke's now and then I'm heading to the Inn. If you're not there I'll be waiting for you at home. Okay? Love you. Bye." Closing her mobile Rory entered her childhood sanctuary and waved easily to Caesar before parting the curtain and heading up to the stairs to Luke's apartment. She could hear the television playing quietly in the background and what sounded like Luke talking on the phone. Raising her hand to knock Rory felt her hand hover over the pane of glass that read "Williams Hardware Office."

"Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow then? Great. Bye." _What?_ Shaking off the odd feeling of foreboding that gripped her, Rory knocked.

"Come in."

"Hey, Luke!" Closing the door behind her Rory noted how most of her mothers boyfriends possessions had been moved in a manner similar to the one Lorelai had around her bed after she and Luke had broken up the first time. A cooler, a plate with a burger probably courtesy of Caesar, a pile of books on baseball and fishing. A radio with some cassettes next to it and other objects used to pass the time. "How are you?"

"I've been better." He replied while placing the phone he held in his hands on the night table.

"Who was on the phone?" Was it Rory's imagination or did Luke look slightly _guilty_?

"Just a business call." Noticing how uncomfortable he seemed Rory dropped the subject before moving onto the reason she had come there.

"Do you know where my mom is? She's not answering her cell and I needed to talk to her."

"She's at the Inn. She'll probably be there for another hour or so."

"Okay, thanks. Sorry to leave so soon but I just really need to talk to her. I'll see you later Luke!" And just as quickly as she had come she was gone in a swirl of brown hair and innocent, but sad, blue eyes.

"Bye, Rory!" He couldn't stand the knot in his stomach. Lorelai killing him was one thing. Hurting Rory was another. "It's not like I had a choice," he mumbled as watched yet another talk show making the same jokes as the others.

* * *

As it had turned out Rory didn't need to go to the Inn because as she came out from behind the counter she almost ran into her mother.

"Mom!"

"Oh, hi." Lorelai blinked as though coming out of a dream.

"I have something I need to tell you. Now." Eyes fixed on the staircase to her boyfriends apartment but hearing the urgent tone in her daughters voice Lorelai nodded before allowing herself to be guided out the door. Her conversation with Luke could wait. The sound of the cars, as well as the laughter and shrieks of children from the park across the street would drown out any words, leaving Rory with no fear that they would be overheard. Unless of course Kirk managed to be lurking somewhere. This idea instantly became nullified when the Yale graduate noticed the towns eccentric friend being tied to the monkey bars in the park by the Banyan Boys. Again. Poor, man.

"Babette, for some reason, thinks your pregnant." Rory blurted out, her hands knotting anxiously.

"Why would she possibly think that?" This wasn't the first time it was speculated that she was pregnant. Sookie had driven her nearly insane a year or so ago with the questions simply because she had asked for a large amount of food.

"I don't know! It's not like there was a pregnancy test to be seen. Only that piece of paper. So unless Babette broke into our house and dug into my suitcase she didn't find out that way." Lorelai gave her daughter a calculating look as though she were actually entertaining the possibility.

"Mom!"

"What! I'm just thinking it might be possible." She trailed off, once again seeing images of Babette breaking into her house, it wasn't like it was that hard to do. Rory continued to stare, clearly not amused. "Oh, fine."

"What did we do that made her think that?" Lorelai absently reached out and hugged her daughters shoulders as she began to walk them down the street, not wanting to cause attention to be brought to them due to their intense chattering in front of Luke's. Thinking back over the past day Lorelai tried to recall when she had last seen her cat loving neighbour. A flash of green caught her eye. Looking up she saw the sign for Doose's.

"The apples. I bought you apples yesterday and Babette was at the market." She could vaguely recall the loud woman in the checkout line.

"So what do we do?"

"We tell them I'm not pregnant, obviously."

"How do we explain the apples?" _Why would we have apples in the house? The only time we ever do is…_

"Carmel apples. We were going to make carmel apples." Lorelai replied, thinking of the treats she hung from the trees in the autumn.

"In summer?" Ignoring her daughters doubtful tone the elder Gilmore continued.

"We didn't want to wait for Halloween."

"That's ridiculous."

"It's us." Rory's eyebrows rose ever so slightly as she took this in, thinking to the multiple pools around town based on what antics the pair would perform next.

"Good point."

"Are we calm?"

"A bit."

"Oh, and Rory?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't eat the apples in public. Or near a window."

"Are you suggesting I eat apples alone with the drapes drawn."

"Yes."

"Just checking."

"I need to head back to the Inn. Michel and Sookie may have killed each other. It's Crazy Day."

"I'll head home and eat some apples in the dark." Rory drew her mothers arms away from her shoulders before stepping towards the curb, preparing to cut across the town square.

"Have fun."

"I will."

"I'll bring home pizza for dinner." Lorelai called as she watched her daughter dart across the street.

"With cheesy bread."

"Yeah!"

And with that they parted ways, their words lost in the noise of street.

* * *

Rory felt satisfied when she got home. On the way she run into several people who had wished her mother well and she had set them straight. Lorelai Gilmore was not pregnant- well the senior one wasn't anyway. And so like a pebble falling into a pond the rumour rippled across Stars Hollow. Slowly but surely it began to disappear. Clicking on the lights in her room Rory noticed that piece of paper, now on the ground. _Probably fell out when I was going through my suitcase._

Digging around for matches in the kitchen Rory lit a scented candle she been given for her birthday a few years ago and purposefully held the doctors notice over it. The flames licked the page and she watched tendrils of smoke rise into the air.

_Maybe it will all turn out okay. _

* * *

1:36 am. The dashboard lights brought an eerie glow to his face as he drove back into a town he had sworn never to return to on the night he had fled with a girl staring at him with a perplexed expression on her face as she stood among carnival stalls and swirling snow.

_Welcome to Stars Hollow_. He passed sign after sign. Doose's Market. Taylor's Ye Olde Fashioned Soda Shoppe. Gypsies' Garage. Sophie's Music. Kim's Antiques. Al's Pancake World. Luke's Diner. It was here that he stopped. Engine idling by the curb as he took in the sight of it. The paint looked fresher, hinting at a slight remodel. He parked just outside it, not fearing any townspeople realizing he was there because of it, it was a new car. Standing outside the building he thought of the first time. His thoughts then? _Welcome to Hell. _His thoughts now? _Welcome home to Hell. _Because in some strange, twisted way that he didn't really want to admit he was at home in Stars Hollow.

Pulling out his bag from the trunk he locked the car and found the spare key over the door to the Diner. Right where he remembered it. The bell jingled. Just the way it had almost four years ago. The door to the apartment upstairs was locked. It was easily broken into. Exactly the same difficulty too. He would need to recommend a new lock to Luke, who would not be pleased at his way of entry. Something's didn't change. His bed was still in its corner. Luke was still snoring away on his side of the apartment. Dumping his bag he fell onto his bed and thought of the repercussions of his return.

"Hello?" A drowsy voice called. Raising his head a bit, he could see the owner of the apartment and diner below him propped up on his elbow. Looking at him.

"Jess."

"Hey, Uncle Luke."

**A/N: **Look! Stuff is actually happening! Isn't that exciting? It only took me a year to write it! And it's even longer then usual. So, please leave a review. I can actually say with some certainty that it won't take a year before my next update. Because my muse appears to have returned. Huzzah.

Fairy Struck.


	5. Chapter Four

**A/N: **Happy Holidays! Well, it's been an interesting few months. Senior year. University applications. NaNoWriMo. Yes, yes. I am aware that it has been a few months since my last update. But my muse is flighty and temperamental- and just generally an irritating thing to be around. But it decided to pay a visit, however brief, in light of the festive season. A few months is better then a year, right? Huzzah. On with the chapter. With Jess.

Oh, how I love him.

* * *

Luke Danes was groggy. And tired. And confused as he watched his nephew from across the apartment. The little light that was streaming into the apartment was more on his side, so the other was mostly in shadow. Just a silhouette of a man with a dark side bang, dressed in jeans and a shirt.

"I thought you were coming in tomorrow." His uncle didn't look any different Jess thought. The same grey t-shirt, his tattoo peeking out from under the sleeve. He must have shaved recently too- for there wasn't much of a shadow on his face- something that only took away a bit of his stay-away-from-me vibe. He didn't look like much of a hermit.

In fact, the entire apartment looked less loner-ish. Bright blue throw pillows and blankets. A polka dotted table cloth with candle sticks sitting in the centre. And now that he really looked at it Jess saw that the bed he had thrown his bag onto wasn't really his at all. It was another shade of the same blue. Cerulean?

And there was jewellery sitting on the dresser next to it. Pictures of a girl, who he had only seen briefly, with other teenagers. Books too. Not, that he really minded the last one. Though he didn't think he would ever be really in the mood to read a Native American inner-meditative short story collection. Overall, the place actually looked _liveable_.

April had chipped away at his uncle's cold exterior within little more then a year. Who knew that was possible?

"It is tomorrow," Jess remarked, his fingers ghosting across the titles of books April had left at her fathers home. Eyebrow raised, he read the back cover of one that looked promising. Though his young cousin might have a problem with him writing in the margins….

"I thought you meant later."

"Obviously. How're the legs?" The big bulky casts were impossible to miss as they were casting long shadows across the bed spread.

"Look, it's late. We'll discuss this tomorrow." The arm he wasn't using to support his torso came up to rub at his eyes tiredly. Jess glanced at the clock on the nightstand next to April's/his bed. Only two in the morning. He couldn't count the number of times he and his fellow roommates had spent discussing business or drinking at this time.

"Later today." He idly cracked the book open, flipping through the pages- odd words jumping out here and there.

"You haven't changed much." He could hear his uncle dropping back down onto the mattress, shifting, trying to find a more comfortable position. His voice had taken on more of a dazed quality, hinting that he would resume his snoring at any moment. _Oh, god. The _snoring_. And the Wal-Mart jokes. And stealing my car. And the plaid shirts. And the lame excuses to check on me and- well. That's not really an issue anymore, is it?_

"Neither have you." _A teenage boy with an attitude who fell in love with a girl who was too good for him. No, not really. _

"Night."

"Sleep tight." Luke grumbled in irritance at his nephews tone before drifting back to sleep. Jess snapped the book shut before placing it back on its pile, careful to keep the others from tumbling down like a game of Jenga. He pulled his boots off and stuffed them under the bed, hitting a box of what could only be more books. _Just like hers. _

No, nothing really was different, he thought as he lay back onto the bed, not bothering to change or move under the covers. In places like Philadelphia it was easy to see time passing. People came and went, moving on with their lives. And yet here, there was always someone watching you. Always someone who cared- no matter how gruff that affection might be or how angry that girl would act towards you (at least that was how it was once). A top of the morning. A stupid dance recital or auction for baskets. A winter carnival put on by a school marching band.

He had once said that his uncle was trapped in Stars Hollow, that his life was there and it could never be anywhere else. Not because he didn't want change but because he was scared of it. Looking around that apartment, from the edge of his new bed, that had once been so dead he couldn't help but think that maybe he wasn't trapped.

Just content.

* * *

He dreamed of lights. Lots and lots of lights. Blinding, flashing at impossible speeds. Cars on a street. Late a night. Was that why it was so bright? Where was he anyway? A bar. Yes, he was stumbling out of a bar. Or into it. Yes, into it.

Not the typical place. Not in Philadelphia. Iowa. Why again? Business, selling books. More books. A voice. Sweet and clear. Where was it coming from? So familiar…She was sitting there at a stool, nursing a vodka something. A near empty bowl of peanuts next to her. She swatted away the hands of a waitress, overly protective of some napkins. Odd. And yet Rory had always been odd, hadn't she?

* * *

Jess woke to someone not so gently nudging his shoulder. Brown hair. Blue eyes. It couldn't. She was on the campaign trail with Barrack Obama, wasn't she?

Nope. Definitely not her.

Lorelai Gilmore looked less then pleased. And yet when was she ever when she was near him?

Yeah, not much had changed.

* * *

She sat in the chair across from her daughter's bed, watching as her only child tossed and turned in her sleep. Hair, knotted, spread across the pillows she had had since she was a girl. The blankets tangled around her legs as she kicked at things that her mother couldn't see. Rory had always been a sound sleeper. She didn't talk or snore, not matter how often Lorelai liked to tease otherwise. She didn't drool or scream. She didn't move- hit or kick. This was why this was so disconcerting to watch.

She was distressed, that was the only explanation. Her mother supposed she did have a good reason. Being pregnant was a challenge. True, Rory had graduated Yale, she had a job writing for an online magazine. Hugo Grey, though he had sent someone else to cover the Obama campaign, still had Rory write for him on a more permanent basis. No, that wasn't the issue at all. The issue was the father.

Telling him for one thing. And, well…

Yes, the father was a problem. A very stressful problem.

Rubbing wearily at her head Lorelai gripped the post-it note pad in her hand tighter, a pen poised to write on it. She made a move to write Luke's on it but stopped. He would be there wouldn't he? Of course. Crumpling the neon pink piece of paper into a ball she wrote Weston's on the next one.

Maybe she and Rory would finally make it through that seven layered cake today. _See, a perfectly good reason to have lunch there._ Lorelai was suddenly reminded of a time many years ago, trying to find the right moment to let her daughter know that her boyfriend had skipped town. Now she just needed to find the right moment to let her daughter know that her ex-boyfriend had found his way back to town. Maybe. She still needed verification.

Sticking the paper to her one and only offspring's forehead Lorelai absently brushed out a tangle in her daughter's hair before she quietly closed the door behind her. Still gripping the handle the elder Gilmore let out a sigh, eyes shut tight- taking in the silence. Trying to maintain some bit of calm so she could at least decently lie to her daughter when-

The phone rang. Very loudly. Again. And again.

And again. A mumble came from behind the door Lorelai held. _Crap. _Lunging for the living room, where she was pretty sure, maybe, she had left the phone, she made a grab for it after spotting it under a magazine on the coffee table.

"Hey, hi, hello!"

"It's a bit odd to give more then one greeting, Lorelai." Said woman collapsed on the couch, clutching at the phone in her hand a bit harder- not in away as though she were afraid to drop it. But in a way that gave the impression she were trying to strangle it.

"Damn," she cursed.

"What was that, Lorelai?" The woman's head fell to her chest.

"Hi, mom. How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you for asking." From the background noise of chirping birds and the random barks of a dog she could tell that her mother was on the patio. She could picture Emily perched on one of her numerous benches, sipping a cup of tea, staring at a bush that probably cost more then her daughters collection of shoes. And that was a lot.

"That's great, what-"

"I am fine for a woman who only just found out that her granddaughter is back in town." Lorelai sunk lower onto her couch, vaguely listening as Rory turned again in her sleep. Muttering about things that didn't make sense.

"Mom-"

"And has been for the past few days. Yes, I am fine." She was using that tone. That bitingly polite one that irritated Lorelai so. The one that clearly said I-am-not-happy-but-I'll-pretend-I-am.

"I was going to call." _Try to build a defense. Any kind of defense. _

"When was that? When Thanksgiving came around? Or perhaps Christmas. Tell us she couldn't make it home for the holidays." _There is no winning here. _

"How did you find out anyway? Not Kirk again?" Lorelai pulled herself off the couch, despite how comfortable it was now, and began to pace around her living room. Adjusting pictures here and throwing squeaky toys back into boxes there. She had found the boxes in storage, a gift from Luke years ago because he thought she had needed to be more organized. Taking his recent injuries into account she was starting to see his point…

"You make it sound like you were trying to hide it. Your entire town knows." _But back to that point _she thought as she looked at a picture of a much younger Rory, sitting at a desk in a Harvard dorm room. When that had been the dream. A different time. A different girl.

"But how do you know, mom?"

"Sookie." _Betrayal. How is it Sookie always tells her everything? My engagement to Max and- this. So, two things, but still-_

"When did you talk to Sookie?" It was difficult to imagine the two chatting, one of the few times they had it had ended with Sookie trying to hire midgets to dance on mushrooms at her wedding. Yes, sanity was left at the door in the company of the Gilmores.

"Well, as you may recall Sookie made all of those dishes for your father after his heart attack."

"Yes, mother, I am aware." _I was the one who called her to help. _

"Anyway, he was curious as to the recipe. One of the maids threw it out, Laura, I think her name was," _There was a maid named Laura recently? I thought it was Karen. _"So, I called Sookie to get it and in the background I could hear Michel talking about Rory."

"So Michel told you?" _When did Michel find out?_

"No, Sookie. I asked her what Michel was talking about and she told me that Rory was back in town. Imagine that. Her own grandmother didn't know. Why is she back? Is she alright? She's supposed to be in Iowa. Or was." Still looking at the picture of the sixteen year old Rory Lorelai smiled slightly at her daughters almost identical grinning face.

"She's fine, mom."

"She's fine?" _I wouldn't say it otherwise. _

"She's fine." _She will be. _

"Good. Then I suppose your father and I will see you both for dinner." _Walked right into that one. _

"Damn," Lorelai muttered, eyes turning away from the framed image and back onto her chaotic living room. The movies she had rented the other day had fallen off the coffee table, when she wasn't sure. Putting them back into a hasty pile she closed her eyes tightly. Hand once more held to her forehead.

"What was that?"

"Damn- straight."

"Watch your language Lorelai." The phone went dead. _Breathe. _

"Bye, mom. We'll see you tonight." The phone was thrown onto the couch, watching it bounce once and then twice Lorelai turned back towards the kitchen. She was low on broccoli. That wouldn't work. Having not seen her dog anywhere, though he was probably hiding in her closet, and not wanting to call him in case she woke Rory she placed the vegetable in his bowl before leaving through the back door. Leaving behind a dog that was trying on her shoes and a daughter who lay tormented in dreams.

Luke's wasn't crowded. The counter was completely free, the other customers having all chosen tables. Kirk sat at the corner table as Lulu helped to pull bits of tape off of his shirt. Lorelai didn't bother to stop and ask how that got there. It was only Caesar manning the diner. No Jess. And he had to be there. If Luke had called when she thought he had called he would be there.

Smiling at the cheerful man taking orders she brushed the curtain aside and made her way up to the office space modified into an apartment. The door wasn't locked, which surprised her, Luke always got angry when she left her house unlocked. Though she supposed it wasn't the same- as anyone who was stupid enough to break into Luke'sdwelling would also have to get past the lock on the diner. Unless they knew where the key was. He hadn't been very creative in hiding it.

Pushing open the door she could hear the flipping of book pages from the section of the room where her boyfriend would be and snoring. He had resorted to reading. _He must be bored out of his mind. _

But the snoring- that was coming from April's side of the room. Only April was at her science camp at the moment and wouldn't be there for another few weeks. She had called twice the day before, to check up on her father, not minding that the shorter boat trip that had been rescheduled would have to be cancelled. Again.

He was passed out across the blue comforter, head just barely grazing the pillow. He looked different. The last time Lorelai had seen him had been at Liz and TJ's wedding, dressed in period clothes with his hair gelled into a certain style. Now it was ruffled, a little darker she thought. He had a little hair on his chin- it almost reminded her of a more clean shaven Luke. He wasn't wearing a Metallica shirt or a leather jacket. He looked- nice. More clean.

But that didn't change anything. He was still Jess Mariano, the boy who only ever seemed to spell bad news for her daughter.

"Lorelai?"

"I'll get to you in a minute." Crossing the apartment she could Luke in her peripherals, dropping the book down onto the bed. Twisting, onto his side, so that he could see what was going on. Hissing when he moved his leg the wrong way. She nudged Jess in the shoulder. He snorted. She hit him again. Waiting.

He blinked, eyes blurry from little sleep. He looked at her for a moment, eyes widening a bit, hopeful before returning to normal. _He thought I was Rory. He'll never be over her will he? _

"Can I help you?" His voice was the same. Still annoyingly arrogant. _What was it I wanted to say again? Right, stay away from my daughter. _

"Lorelai, can I talk to you for a minute?" Luke asked. "Jess- you can clean up and then could you go help Caesar downstairs."

"Sure thing, uncle Luke." He picked up the bag from the foot of the bed before manoeuvring around the piles of stuff around Luke's bed. "Nice seeing you Lorelai." The door shut behind him and the couple listened as the water for the shower started up.

"You called Jess." It was said so simply and yet Luke could feel the accusation behind it. These were dangerous waters.

"I needed him to help Caesar run the diner. You saw him last year. He went crazy over two weeks. I couldn't leave him for two months," he defended as Lorelai moved his fishing book away and sat on the edge of the bed.

"He only ever hurts Rory. She doesn't need that right now." She thought of her daughter, lying on her bed, tangled in her sheets and thoughts.

"I'll keep him away from her. Tell him she's not here." The shower continued and Lorelai was acutely aware of that fact that they were discussing Rory when Jess was just a wall away. She hoped that the boy had lousy hearing after years of listening to heavy rock music.

"He thinks she's on the campaign trail anyway," she thought out loud, not even really thinking about what she was saying.

"How would he know she even left?" Luke held a hand up, as though he were conducting traffic, eyes locked on her blue ones.

"That's not the point. The entire town knows she's back, how long until he finds out?" _Distraction to get off this track. _

"Jess is too much like me. He doesn't listen in on the towns latest gossip." It was difficult to imagine Jess having a lengthy conversation with East Side Tilley, Babette or Miss Patty. But, the idea that he wouldn't over hear it as Kirk had or see Rory walking down the street out of the corner of his eye gave her no comfort.

"That's a big chance you're taking Luke," Lorelai whispered.

"Rory's a big girl. She can handle it if he comes poking around."

"Rory's going through something Luke." _And here it comes. Smooth, Lorelai. Real smooth. _

"I wouldn't know. You won't tell me," he accused.

"That's not fair," she said as she stood, now towering over the man looking up at her with an irritated expression.

"What happened to telling each other everything? I thought April taught us that." Her eyes narrowed at the reference to his lying to her for two months about such a huge revelation.

"This is different. It's not mine to tell!"

"Fine."

"Fine!" She all but stomped out of the apartment, leaving an angry Luke and a running shower with a man who was making her life, and that of her daughters, much more complicated.

* * *

Stupid Logan, Stupid heart. She had told her mother that it came in waves. Big ones, really close together. Staring a the bottom of yet another empty glass she could almost say she was alright. That she was moving on and getting over him. _Ha. Funny. _Loving someone for three years didn't go away in a week. One could dream though, couldn't they?

"Could I get another one?" She shook the glass in the general direction of the man behind the bar, watching as the lime in said cup swirled around with an ice cube.

"Are you sure?" He looked concerned as he reached for the vodka bottle he had at hand. Almost as though he wanted her to re-evaluate what she was doing. _Coping. That's what I'm doing. _

"I am paying for the drinks, aren't I? I even ate those peanuts," She said, gesturing at that bowl he had shoved at her earlier. "Now, I would appreciate another drink."

"Coming right up, miss," his voice snapping into a professional mode as he prepared the beverage.

"That's what I thought. What are you doing?" She was focused on another employee of the bar now. A woman, no older then her, trying to clean the counter in front of her. Mainly, taking the napkins that had come with her previous drinks. And the peanut bowl. Not that Rory minded the woman taking that.

"Cleaning up-"

"These are mine." Rory reached out and held the napkins in her hand. Clutching to her chest. _Hers. _

"Sorry." The woman took the empty peanut bowl and left, but not without a brief roll of her eyes.

"That's what I thought," Rory grumbled as her latest drink was placed in front of her. Reaching towards it she took another sip, thinking about him. Thinking of how he would be in San Francisco at the moment. Maybe he was at the house he had bought for them. With the avocado tree because he knew she loved guacamole. He knew _her. _

"Well, if it isn't Rory Gilmore as I live and breathe." _Just like Logan said after our first date. Waves, lots of waves. _She turned, almost hoping for familiar blonde hair and grey eyes to be staring back at her. For a half smile to be gracing his face and a hand extended to hold her own.

But she didn't see that. She saw dark hair, almost black, falling in front of brown eyes she could drown in. She saw the smile that had once meant the world to her. She saw the face of another man she had once loved.

"Jess?"

* * *

The youngest Gilmore woke to find her vision impeded. There was a neon post-it note stuck to her forehead. And Jess on the brain. Groaning she was tempted to just close her eyes again. Fall back asleep and hope the world would ignore her for ten more minutes. That would be nice. Instead her hand reached, of its own accord, to the note.

Weston's? Not Luke's? Strange. Looking at the clock she all but fell out of bed. It was 11:46 am. The note said noon for lunch.

She might be a little late.

* * *

When Rory got to Weston's she found her mother sitting outside at a familiar table. The same table where she had announced she would be leaving Yale for a bit. She hadn't gone back to school until the next semester. Talked back into it by Jess. Jess- who had proposed to her during her first year. Who had bailed again and again.

Jess- who wasn't angry at the world anymore. The boy who had grown up and gotten his life back together when no one else thought he could.

"Hi mom." The reigning Lorelai looked up from the table, fingers leaving the necklace she had been twirling around.

"Hey, sweets. Seven layered cake?"

"You think we can make it?"

"Not if you have that attitude."

"I apologize, seven layered cake it is." The waitress came and left, taking the menus they hadn't touched. "Can I ask, why Weston's?"

"Some days are good days for pie," her mother quoted. _Her voice is different, _Rory decided. Softer, distracted. It mirrored her own. _That couldn't be good. _

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, well. Luke and I had a fight earlier," the waitress came back and set the cake platter before the two women before hurrying off again- catering to the other customers.

"Why?" She asked, twirling her fork absently in her hand before digging into the confectionary treat.

"He wants to know what's happening." Rory swallowed the bite of chocolate she had in her mouth. Her mother pried a bit off as well.

"Oh."

"I didn't say anything," Lorelai assured.

"Thank you," her daughter whispered. Taking another bite she watched people walk by. They weren't looking at her as much and even Lorelai had gone off their radar. It seemed the correction of the rumour on her pregnancy had spread. Like ripples on a lake surface. Still staring out across the square she noticed a car parked in front of Luke's. It wasn't one she had seen before-

"Your grandmother called." Rory blinked and turned her attention back onto her mother.

"And?" She asked with an eyebrow raised, once again going in for more cake.

"Friday night dinner, anyone?"

"If we're going to grandmas don't you think we should stop eating this?" Lorelai's fork hovered halfway between the plate and her mouth. Her eyes looked thoughtful as she stared at the bit of chocolate before she shrugged.

"Unnecessary."

* * *

**A/N: **So nothing really happened. It's more of a filler then anything else. But we have flashbacks and who doesn't love flashbacks that explain relevant plot details? And if I can keep my muse long enough I might be able to update within the next week or so. Isn't that nice? You know what also might help my muse? A review. So hopefully if you liked the chapter, disliked it or thought it was meh you'll leave a review.

Fairy Struck.


End file.
